Return to Fanelia
by UnDeAdChIcK
Summary: Hitomi returns to Fanelia. All is well until an attack lead by someone from the past, that was known and loved... 35 (small) chapters and an epilogue... in the classic Escaflowne style (action, adventure, comedy, and *of course* romance)... please read an
1. One

"Aren't you coming, Hitomi?" asked Yukari.

"No… it just wouldn't be right. This is your last chance to see Amono before he leaves—" Hitomi started.

"It's your last chance too!" argued Yukari.

"But I wouldn't feel right tagging along on your date. I'm sure you understand," Hitomi said, knowing that Yukari wouldn't argue with that.

"Fine, Kanzaki… but you are missing out." Yukari turns to leave.

"Tell Amono that I said goodbye!" Hitomi yells after her.

Hitomi went to her backyard and looks at the stars. _Van is so far away. If only I could see him one last time. _As her silvery tears fall onto her pendant she becomes vaguely aware that she is being bathed in light. Then darkness engulfs her.

* * *

Hitomi hears a voice telling her to wake up and sees a very blurry face, since she hasn't had time to fully awake. "Mom?" she asked, not sure of who it was.

"Meow?" questioned the voice.

Hitomi jumped up. "Merle!" she shouted. "I'm back in Finelia!"

"Um… yeah. But Lord Van is waiting! You were supposed to be up for dinner 30 minutes ago!" Merle exclaimed.

Hitomi gets up to get dressed, and Merle leaves the room.

Merle mutters, "That girl is weird… really weird…"

Hitomi gets ready and heads downstairs. Van is waiting for her in the dining room, alone. _I thought there was going to be dinner here… yet the table has nothing on it. And why does Van have that look on his face; it seems almost sad or nervous, _she thinks. 

"Hitomi!" Van is delighted that she is finally here.

"Van," she returns the greeting.

"I have something very important so say… please be seated," he says, still seeming very nervous.

Hitomi sits, awaiting the terrible news she is sure will come.

"Since Finelia is almost rebuilt," he begins, "I am the king once again… but no king can successfully rule a kingdom without a queen by his side."

"Van…" she says quietly.

"Hitomi, I love you. And I want you to be my queen," Van says with his soft eyes begging her to say yes.

"Van, I love you to. But—" She begins.

"You don't need to tell me your answer now, but please think about it. It would mean the world to me is you would become my queen, but in no way do I want to pressure you into it," he replies, scared that she will answer no.

"But Van—" Hitomi starts

****


	2. Two

Hitomi fought the urge to run. That might have been the solution that she went for in the past, but words from Millerna rang in her head, _"You're so childish, Hitomi."_

Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, at least not the one he was looking for, Van sullenly walks to the courtyard. As soon as Van is gone Hitomi runs outside in search of Millerna. When she suddenly remembered that Millerna, Allan, Selena, and Dryden are all in Asturia. Hitomi sits on the curb. "Aww… I guess I have to talk to Merle until I can find a ride out there. But Merle will be crushed," she says to herself.

Hitomi goes up to her room to crash on her bed. But, like usual, Merle is rummaging through her bag. Hitomi doesn't notice Merle (she is too pre-occupied) and falls on her.

"Hey!" Merle hisses. "Watch what you're doing, or else I'll use you for a scratching post!" Merle finally noticed how upset Hitomi is. She crawls up to where Hitomi is sprawled on the bed. "What's the matter?"

"You wouldn't understand, Merle," Hitomi says, although Merle will obviously disagree.

"Well, Miss Priss, I happen to know a lot more than you think. I heard that Lord Van is going to propose to you! Oops… wasn't supposed to tell you! Please don't tell Lord Van that I spoiled the surprise!" Merle starts going into hysterics.

"Merle, don't worry. He already proposed to me; you didn't ruin anything," Hitomi comforts her.

"Then what's that matter. You should be glad that Lord Van wants to marry you! God Hitomi… you are such an ingrate sometimes!" Merle scolds her.

"I am glad, but at the same time I don't think I can take the responsibility. I'm only 15! I can't possible help rule a country!" Hitomi explains.

"Well," Merle starts, "you could talk to Millerna about it. We could go to Asturia tomorrow."

"How do you suppose we are going to do that? Van took out the energist from Escaflowne," Hitomi asks.

Mr. Mole walks in.

"Mr. Mole! What are you doing here? I though you were in Asturia with Millerna and Allen," Hitomi exclaims.

Mr. Mole takes the pager out of his pocket that he stole from her before Merle started rummaging through her bag. "I found this of yours, and figured that you might want it back. But I couldn't help but to over-hear. You needn't worry about going there. Princess Millerna and company are planning on coming here. It seems that news spreads rather quickly through these parts," Mr. Mole says.

"When are they planning on coming?" Hitomi asks.

"Tomorrow or the day after…. something like that. You can never be too sure with these sort of things," Mr. Mole says, neglecting to tell her that he is the one to spread to news to Millerna. "Well, I had better go… it seems that there is much to do… Much to do."

Meanwhile Van is outside on the roof, looking at the night sky. "Brother, how I wish you were here. You were always better at these sorts of matters. And if all goes well I would have been grateful for your attendance at the wedding ceremony," Van says to the stars.

Suddenly Merle jumps onto the roof beside Van. "Merle!" Van exclaims in surprise.

"Are you worried, Lord Van?" Merle asks quietly.

Van sighs, "Yes, I am rather uneasy, Merle." 

"Don't worry Lord Van. It will all turn out okay," Merle comforts him. "And if she says no, you always have me."

A star twinkles in the heavens.


	3. Three

The next day on Asturia Mr. Mole is going through Millerna's jewels, frantically throwing them into his pockets.

"Mr. Mole! What are you doing in here?!" Millerna asks, trying to ignore the fact that he is stealing from her.

"I have urgent news to tell you, Princess Millerna. I just thought I would wait for you in here," Mr. Mole explained, also trying to ignore the fact that he was stealing.

"What is this urgent news?" Millerna asks, suddenly curious.

"Hitomi Kanzaki is back and Lord Van proposed to her. I think she wants you for moral support in this important decision," Mr. Mole explained.

Millerna jumped up with joy for her friend. "I'd better get ready to go then!"

Mr. Mole holds out his hand expecting something in return for delivering the news.

"Take whatever you threw into your pocket as your tip," Millerna says, annoyed.

Mr. Mole slumps out of her room defeated.

Millerna throws her many outfits and such into her trunks and sends message to Allen and Selena. Intending to tell Dryden herself.

After having most of the preparations for the trip ready she finds Dryden. "I'd love to get away from my simple merchant work, but I'm not entirely sure that I'd be needed. Plus, I couldn't imagine being stuck on a ship with Allen for that long again," he replied to her question.

"If they do get married you will just be sent for again. And I doubt you'd want to miss any of the festivities," Millerna tried to convince him.

"But if they don't get married then I will just have to leave again, still not having any purpose for being there," Dryden argued.

"Don't you want to see Hitomi again? Didn't she save us at our wedding?" Millerna exclaimed, bothered by Dryden's selfishness.

"My apologies, Princess. I completely forgot about that valiant act. She must be repaid. I will accompany you to Fanelia," Dryden finally gave in.

Soon they are all ready and head for Fanelia.

Meanwhile in Fanelia Hitomi is hiding near the market/harbor with Merle.

"You're CRAZY, Hitomi! Anyone except you would jump at the offer to marry the King of Fanelia! You love him… HE loves you… it should all just work out!" Merle says a little too loudly. People turn and look at them. "Oops," mutters Merle, seeing that she may have just spread the news a little prematurely. 

"Merle!" scolds Hitomi quietly. "Maybe we should go where there are less curious ears."

They walk to an empty street. The people who were once listening go back to their lives, yet don't entirely ignore what they heard.

"I do love Van," explained Hitomi softly, "but I need a little more time to sort through all of this. I hope Millerna and Allen are coming soon. I need someone to talk to."

Merle sneers at that remark, "Well, Miss Priss, I thought you were talking to me, but I must not be good enough to talk to." Merle licks her hand and begins to scamper off.

"Wait Merle! I didn't mean to offend you!" Hitomi yells after her. Merle ignores her and runs to the castle.

"Where could Lord Van be?" asks Merle to herself. She jumps up the castle wall and sits outside the window of Van's study. There she overhears him talking to himself.

"Where could Hitomi be? I hope I didn't scare her away again. I can't live without her," Van sobs at the very thought. "Oh brother, I miss you so much."

Merle, unable to take anymore of Van's crying, jumps though the window. "Whatcha doing, Lord Van?" she asks, sitting beside him on his desk.

"Nothing Merle, just thinking," Van replies.

"About her, isn't it?" Merle says with a bit of jealousy in her voice.

Van says nothing.

"You have no need to worry about Hitomi anymore," Merle starts, "she ran away this morning. A big beam of light got her again."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry about the lack of an author's note… ok, so far I have 24 parts in the story, but it is far from done. I will try to keep you posted as to how many there will be… and I will try to post a new one every day.


	4. Four

"She what???" asked Van in disbelief.

"She said something about not being able to take the pressure and ran off. Further down the street I saw a big beam of light pick her up," Merle said, trying to hide the sadistic grin that she was feeling on the inside.

"No…" Van whispered, trying to hide his hurt from his cat friend.

A messenger walks into the room. "Sire, a ship has arrived. Princess Millerna, Allen and Celena Schezar, and Dryden are aboard. They wish to see you and Lady Hitomi."

"I'll be present, however it seems that Lady Hitomi has taken her leave," Van replies, acting and looking very sovereign.

"I will send message to them at once," the messenger bows and exits the study.

From her spot on the desk Merle grins. "Would you like to join me, Merle? This might be the last chance for a while that we get so see our friends again," Van asks.

"Certainly, Lord Van. Thank goodness you're alright after the horrible news about Hitomi, thank goodness," Merle replies. 

Van's face drops, showing the sadness in his eyes. They walk out to the ship awaiting them.

Dryden walks up to Van. "I heard about the news. So, where is the little lady?" Dryden asks, innocently enough.

Van replies, his eyes filled with sadness, "Merle saw her run away. She went back to the mystic moon."

They gasp with disbelief. "Sorry to hear that, Van," Allen comforts. Allen walks away a little sad for himself as well.

"I'll be okay," replies Van. "Millerna, you may stay in Hitomi's room if you like. It has a wonderful view of the courtyard."

"Thank you Van," Millerna replies politely.

"And Dryden…" Van starts.

Dryden holds up hand, "No need to bother, Your highness, I will stake out a spot with the other merchants," he says willfully.

"If you insist, but it would be no bother. Remember that we always have a room for you here. Especially after what you did for Escaflowne… and me," Van replies.

They take their bags and head toward the castle.

By now Allen is in the courtyard. He notices a figure sitting in the shade of the tree. "Hitomi? Is that you, my little friend?" he asks quietly and to himself.


	5. Five

Hitomi turns around suddenly. "Allen?" she asks in disbelief, although she knew they would be coming soon.

"Yes, I'm here. But I'm a little surprised that you are," he replies.

"What do you mean? Mr. Mole said that you guys knew I was here and about the proposal," Hitomi asks, still confused and oblivious to the lie that Merle told.

"It seems that Van is under the impression that you left for the Mystic Moon again," Allen explains.

"I don't understand why he'd think that—" Hitomi starts. Merle jumps out of the tree suddenly. "Merle?!?!" Hitomi exclaims, surprised.

"Um… I kinda told Van that you left. It was a joke, Hitomi, I didn't mean to upset you," Merle apologizes. Even though truth is that she was just jealous and angry. "I'm sorry." Merle then scampers off again.

Hitomi gets to her feet. "What should I do, Allen? I'm not ready to help rule a country or get married. But I love Van," Hitomi quietly confides in Allen, fighting back her tears.

"Hitomi, as long as love is there nothing else matters. Love defeats all obsticals. But if you really aren't ready you should just tell him. I'm sure Van would understand," Allen advises.

Hitomi hugs Allan. "Thanks for all of your help and support," she whispers. Just then Van walks by. _Oh no,_ Van thinks, _not the kissing incident again! She must really love Allen._ Van stares in disbelief and horror. Then turns to run away.

"Van! Wait! It's not what you think!" Hitomi yells after Van. She lets go of Allen and sort of pushes him aside as she runs after Van. She easily catches up to him because she was in track and he is carrying his heavy sword. When he won't stop she tackles him. Hitomi grabs onto his hand as they are both sitting on the ground.

"Van, I can explain," she starts.

"No need to. I can see that you love Allen," he contorts with a grimace.

"Of course I do, but only as a friend. I love you Van, I love you more than anyone or anything. But please give me some more time to think about it," Hitomi begs.

He kisses her. As she looks into his watery, brown eyes she says, "Please Van…" Hitomi gets up and leaves for her room, leaving Van sitting on the ground alone.

_So you didn't leave me, Hitomi,_ he thinks, _I love you. And never want to think I've lost you again._

****

Part 6 in progress!


	6. Six

In her room Hitomi is surprised to find that Millerna was there sitting on her bed. "Hitomi! You're here!" Millerna exclaims in surprise, although she saw what happened through the window.

"Hi Millerna," Hitomi greeted.

"So… Van asked you to marry him… what are you going to say?" Millerna asked.

"I don't know," Hitomi slumped onto the bed. "I want to say yes, but I don't know if I'm ready to help rule a country… or for that kind of commitment!"

"Hitomi, being royalty isn't that bad. The way you are living now is practically like being royalty. And I was married to Dryden, and I'm perfectly happy!" Millerna replied.

"Yeah… I guess that's true…" Hitomi started.

"Why don't you do a tarot reading, Hitomi?" Millerna asked.

"You know I don't do fortune telling anymore, Millerna," Hitomi argued.

"You have nothing to lose, and it could help your decision," Millerna explained.

"You're right… it could be a big help in making a decision. And if I don't agree with it I don't have to follow it," Hitomi agreed.

Hitomi took her cards out of her pocket and set them down in the Celtic cross spread, as usual.

"Lovers, nine of serpents, sun… it says that we are truly in love and will be happy and have our wishes fulfilled. It also says that we will accomplish greatness." Hitomi started, tears of joy beginning to fill her eyes. "Emperor, empress, wheel of fortune… we will help Fanelia get its well deserved destiny, through our personal vision."

"See," Millerna said, very happy for her friend, "it was meant to be."

"I need to find Van!" Hitomi exclaimed as she raced out the door.

She ran through the castle and leaped down the stairs, not even worried about her own safety. She skid to a halt when she saw Van talking to ambassadors from Asturia and Freid. 

"But your Highness… the threat from Zaibach is not over. There are troops on the borders of Asturia as we speak!" the ambassador of Asturia exclaimed.

"The threat from Zaibach should be over," Van argued, "Emperor Dornkirk was killed, as were most of their troops and Guymelefs. There is no longer a threat from Delandau or…" he pauses, "Falcon."

"But Sire, we saw it with our own eyes, the threat is very real," the ambassador from Freid explained.

Hitomi gasped. '_Not again!' _she thought, _'I don't want to go through this again!'_ Hitomi considered running away, but decided to listen to the rest of it.

"See if you can speak with the ambassadors or Zaibach. We need not attack yet. This may be avoided," Van orders.

"Yes, your Highness," they agree. They bow their heads in respect and leave.

'_Wow, Van has really grown up. In the past he would have jumped at the chance to fight. He is going to be a wonderful King,' _she thinks.

Van leaves the hall as well and runs into Hitomi. "Hitomi, you wanted to speak with me?" Van asks.

"I guess it can wait… it seems that you have a lot to deal with right now," Hitomi replies.

"I do have a lot to deal with, it seems that Zaibach is back and ready to fight, but I can always make time for you, Hitomi," Van argues.

"No, it seems that I'm always getting in the way! I don't want to ruin things again!" she suddenly exclaims beginning to cry.

"But you never have ruined things, Hitomi. You helped so much last time. If it weren't for you I would have been killed by the guymelefs with the stealth cloaks," Van comforts.

"It was because of my wishes, and not believing in you guys, and my pendant that caused so many people to die and get hurt," Hitomi sobs.

"It wasn't you! In fact, you saved my life many times. With your tarot cards and pendant you have done so much for us," Van argued… unaware of his raise in voice.

Hitomi, despite Van's comforting, ran to her room sobbing.

Van tried to shake off what had just happened and went to find his trusted advisors.


	7. Seven

By the time Hitomi got to her room most of her tears had dried. Millerna was still there; a bit too involved in her own little world to realize that Hitomi was upset.

"Where is the wedding going to be held?" Millerna asked, "I think the courtyard would be a splendid place. Not the most regal though… but none the less, it would be very beautiful." 

Hitomi fidgets a bit. "Have you chosen a dress yet? Wait, I'm getting ahead a bit. Have you decided on a date yet?" Millerna asks.

"Actually," Hitomi says looking at the ground, "I haven't told him my answer yet."

"But isn't that what you ran down the stairs to do?" Millerna asks confused.

"Yes, but urgent news came up. I couldn't bear to interrupt important business like that," Hitomi explained.

"Is there anything I could do?" Millerna asks, not even curious about what type of business it was.

"I'd like to be left alone for a while, if you don't mind," Hitomi requested.

"Sure," Millerna replied a little bit hurt that she wasn't wanted. 

Hitomi looked out of the window and watched Celena stroking Merle's fur, while Merle was napping near a bed of daisies. "They seems so happy and carefree. When did things get so difficult," she complained to herself.

"Since you left your home to help aid in a war against Zaibach, I would guess," Allen replied.

"Oh, Allen. I didn't know you were in here," she said suddenly feeling self-conscious about what she said.

"You left in a hurry. I thought I'd come up and check on you," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm doing okay, I guess," she replied. "Did you know that Zaibach forces are near Freid and Asturia?"

"Zaibach is ready to attack Asturia?!" he asked. "Just like them to come **after** I leave. Those cowards!" Allen exclaimed suddenly getting very angry.

"Sorry Allen, I didn't mean to drag you away from home," she said sheepishly.

"It's not your fault," he replied, "you had no idea that Zaibach was going to surround Asturia like that. But as a knight's duty is, I must return to help. Farewell, Hitomi. I shall return." 

"Allen, wait!" she yelled after him.

He didn't hear her and ran though the palace. When he got to the gate he ran into Van. "Pardon me, your Highness, but I must get to Asturia to help fight Zaibach. 'Tis my duty as a Caeli knight of Asturia," Allen gallantly said.

"You are free to leave as you wish, Allen, but the fighting hasn't started yet and we don't know if it will. I'm not leaving Fanelia until it is in ruins again, though. The others are free to go also," Van answered.

"Will you make sure Celena is taken care of?" asked Allan.

"Certainly," replied Van. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Please tell Millerna that I left for Asturia, and am not to be followed," Allen asked. With those last words he went into the Crusade, which was carrying Scherizad.

As Allen (and some of his crew) flew off into the evening sky Van began to wonder if he would ever see him again.


	8. Eight

"What do you mean you couldn't schedule a meeting with an ambassador?!" Van exclaimed, beginning to worry about Fanelia.

"Sire," the ambassador of Fanelia started, "they have no ambassador. Our spies-"

"What spies? I did not allow you to send out any spies!" Van was beginning to get annoyed.

"In a situation such as this it is absolutely necessary to make sure it is safe to negotiate with them. Our spies discovered that they have no ambassador because they are merely a band of ruffians from Zaibach, and a few other small countries on the borders of Zaibach," the ambassador explained.

"They have no leader what-so-ever?" Van asked, beginning to cool down.

"It seems that a man named Balgus is their leader," the ambassador replied.

"No!" Van screamed, "It's not true! Balgus was killed when Fanelia was set on fire! Balgus would never attack his homeland. Never!"

"Sire, please control your temper. We know for a fact that it is Balgus. We need to take immediate measures, they are beginning to send troops to Fanelia as well," the ambassador reasoned.

"Any news of Freid or Asturia so far?" Van asked.

"As of now, they have not been attacked yet. But it is only a matter of time. I strongly suggest that we send out troops immediately," the ambassador advised.

"Fine. I give immediate measure that two thousand troops and three hundred guymelefs are to be sent to the outskirts of Fanelia," Van ordered.

"Yes, Sire. I shall send word immediately," the ambassador bowed and took his leave.

Van decided to tell Millerna that Allen left. He searched the castle for her. He found her in the courtyard. " Princess Millerna," he said.

"Yes, your majesty?" Millerna asked.

"Allen left for Asuria to fulfill his duty as a knight of Caeli," Van informed her.

"Asturia hasn't been attacked yet, has it?" Millerna asked, worried for her country. "I don't know if Eries could rule a country under war without a king."

"No, they haven't been attacked yet, but I do have full confidence in Eries, with or without a king," Van replied. 

"And Allen wanted to make sure that Celena was taken care of. Would you be willing to share a room with her?" Van asked.

"Certainly. However I need a room as well. Now that Hitomi is 'back' I don't have a room," Millerna informed.

"Ah, yes… I see. We are having a bit of a shortage of rooms here, considering we just rebuilt Fanelia. Merle and Hitomi can share a room, I guess. I'll show you to Merle's room," Van offered.

"Thank you, Lord Van. But I don't want to put anyone out," Millerna replied.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll understand," Van responded.


	9. Nine

"You what!?!?!" Merle exclaimed.

"I want you and Hitomi to share a room, so Millerna can have a room," Van explained.

"Can't Hitomi and Millerna share a room?" Merle whined.

"Millerna and Celena are going to share a room," Van replied. Merle started to argue but Van stopped her. "Merle…" he said sternly.

"Fine. I'll do what you ask, Lord Van," Merle replied. 

* * *

"What?!?!" Hiomi exclaimed.

"Lord Van says that I have to share a room with you," Merle explained. "But I get the bed. You had the bed last time."

"That wasn't my choice… I passed out, and you were unconscious as well," Hitomi replied, "And I was here first."

This started an argument, which led to a pillow fight. But that isn't really important to the story…

* * *

Allen got into Sherizad. He knew a surprise attack would be risky, but a knight of Caeli never disobeys orders…

He had gotten to Palas, the capital of Asuria, late in the night. Yet he decided to go to the castle instead. Very fortunately for him Eries had become the Queen through succession… the previous king grew ill when Millerna left for the first time, so he gave up the throne to Millerna and Dryden… but Dryden decided that he didn't want to be king. And that threw the succession off. Millerna became princess again and Eries (being older) became queen. With the help of her trusted advisers she was running the country quite well.

It seemed that he arrived right in time for this surprise attack. So he and Sherizad boarded a ship that flew them to the outskirts of Asturia. Soon they were at the camps. They all stayed in the ships, except for the guards who were staying at portable guard towers. No stealth cloaks at all; they might have been considered ruffians, but they didn't feel a need to hide. The encampment was shabby because they didn't need to guard it. They were going to be the ones to attack.


	10. Ten

The horns blew to warn them of an intruder. For once the guards weren't slacking off. Soon the enemy guymelefs and troops were out of the ships.

The fight lasted for about half and hour, and was very bloody. There was fierce man-to-man fighting. People were falling all over the place. The ruffians seemed to have the clear advantage, but it was fairly close.

Allen was all over all over the place, slashing and jabbing. When one was down he'd move to the next one and charge it with all of his might. If that weren't enough to stop the enemy he'd go straight for the energist, as he'd seen Van do before. It was obvious that they weren't accomplished swordsmen. However, they had more power in weapons, ammunition, guymelefs, and soldiers.

Allen, in Scherizad, rushed toward an enemy guymelef. He raised his powerful sword high above his head and thrust it down onto the enemy's helmet. *CRUNCH* the metal of the helmet gave way to the metal of the sword.

"AAAHHH!" the warrior who was once cocky and aggressive screamed out of the fear of death.

Allen withdrew the sword from the helmet and used it to slice off the guymelef's arm, which held its sword, while he frantically tried to block the attack. One more hit to the helmet and the opponent fell. Allen was doing great, however most of the Asturian knights and warriors weren't doing as well.

"Allen Schezar, we must flee. It is apparent that we won't win this battle," a much older Knight of Caeli said.

"Never! A knight never flees from a battle," Allen said with conviction.

"Knights of Caeli will be needed in future battles. We can't win this one, and it isn't worth dying for. The most they can do is advance on Asturia," the older knight reasoned.

Obeying orders Allen and the other knights and soldiers fled the battle. It was a long ride back to the castle. '_I can believe I was in a losing battle. I was doing so well,'_ Allen realized that everything didn't depend on him. _'I'm just a knight no one really needs me.'_

Allen just stared out of the window on this 2 hour ride that seemed like 2 years.

* * *

The Ruffians, just as the knight said, advanced on the city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still working on posting it… and still have 25 parts completely written… so don't give up on me! 


	11. Eleven

The ground rumbled as the enemy advanced on Palas. Walls of buildings shook, and in some cases collapsed. Things fell off of shelves. The merchants at the bazaar were beside themselves as they frantically tried to keep their goods on their tables. People ran out of buildings. They all had the same frightened look of bewilderment as they looked into the sky and saw guymelefs lumbering into the city.

"We're all going to die for sure!" one terrified merchant shouted.

Children screamed and cried, and frantic mothers tried to keep track of them. All was chaos on this day that would normally have been quiet and peaceful. 

The guymelefs were heading toward the castle. Eries and her advisors were frozen in place just staring, knowing that this would be the end. However, a surprising thing happened…

The guymelefs turned and flew off. It seemed that Asturia was little more than shaken up. The end of Asturia would not come today.

* * *

"It seems that the ruffians have withdrawn from Fanelia," the ambassador said.

"Good," Van replied. "The troops and guymelefs that we sent to the border must have scared them off."

"Actually, your Highness, it seems that they are actually planning a sneak attack on Freid. The must think that Duke Chid is weak as a ruler as well as his troops," the ambassador corrected, ever so graciously.

"We MUST help Chid!" Millerna exclaimed. "He's only a little boy!"

Millerna, Hitomi, Van, Merle, and Celena were all eating lunch when the ambassador came in with the news.

"Chid is a very wise ruler for his age, however I do agree with Millerna. We should help. Chid and Freid have seen enough chaos and destruction," Hitomi said.

"Then that settles it; I'm going to Freid to aid them in battle. Plan to have 100 troops ready for tomorrow morning. And I want some of our best troops," Van commanded.

"But, your Highness, you must stay to rule the country. What would the people think if you left them for Freid? We don't need that kind of panic with the enemy so near," the ambassador argued.

"That was an order. But I want you to take charge while I'm gone. No one must know that I am gone, save for my advisors. If word gets out, it will be all of your heads," Van said being careful not to seem like he was joking about it.

"Y-yes Sir," the ambassador stuttered and walked out of the room.

"That was so rude," Celena commented.

"I know," said Merle. "He shouldn't have interrupted our lunch like that." Then Merle went back to stuffing her face, very much grossing out Hitomi.

"I meant how harsh Van was being with the ambassador," Celena shyly commented. Merle hissed at that comment, although she still had food in her mouth, which grossed out Hitomi again.

"I know," said Van. "But it seems to be the only way I can get them to listen to me. They all think that they know better because they are older."

"'Tis the fate of a young monarch, I regret," Millerna replied.

"I want all of you to stay here while I'm gone," Van suddenly blurted out.

"No, I'm not leaving you Van," Hitomi argued.

"It won't be safe for you there," Van said. "We don't need to go and rescue you again."

"So you think that you are always rescuing me? Am I always getting in the way, to you?!?!" Hitomi got up from the table and ran to her room, after slapping Van (one of the odd quirks that a lot of people in Gaea seem to have.)

"That goes double for me!" Millerna got up from the table as well, not aware that what she said made no sense.

"Um, I think I'd better go make sure that they don't do anything that we will all regret. I'll see if I can cool them down a bit. Although I am a bit disappointed in the lack of confidence that you have in us," Celena left to go comfort them.

"Geez, what's their problem?" Merle stuck out her tongue at them and went back to eating.

Van just sighed, knowing that he said something that he was going to have to make up for. Then he touched his throbbing cheek, that Hitomi had slapped.

Merle suddenly stopped eating. "You aren't really going to leave us behind, are you Lord Van?"

"I really don't know," Van replied softly. "They make it so difficult."


	12. Twelve

"The nerve of him," Hitomi complained, "I saved his life many a time in the past."

"I don't doubt that it is true," Celena replied, "but he did mean well. He was only worried about you… actually all of us."

"He could have asked us what we thought about it, instead of ordering us and being rude about it," Millerna.

"Yeah," Celena and Hitomi sighed.

"Oh, get over it," Merle said, sauntering into the room. "Why would you want to see a battle anyway? The only reason I could think of is to watch Lord Van fight."

"You just don't get it, Merle," Hitomi replied.

Then Van stepped into the doorway. "Do you guys mind if I talk to Hitomi alone for a minute?"

"Go ahead," Celena replied, glad to stop listen to all of the whining on the subject.

"If that's what you want, Lord Van," Merle said.

Millerna just said "Men," and they all walked out of the door.

"I don't want to talk to you," Hitomi said.

"Please hear me out," Van replied. "It is going to be dangerous there and I was just worried," he started.

"You don't need to worry about me. No one asked you to rescue me. I can take care of myself," Hitomi replied.

Merle, who was listening from outside the door (which was closed) said to herself, "Sure… that makes a lot of sense coming from a girl who got kidnapped by geckos…" 

Suddenly Merle felt something yank her tail. "HEY WHAT TO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!?!" Merle screamed, forgetting that she was trying to stay quiet.

"Huh?" Van and Hitomi said that the same time.

"Come now, Merle," Celena whispered sternly, "leave them alone for a minute." And with that Merle, defeated, trudged behind her still perking her ears up trying to listen.

"Fine, I'll tell you the real reason why I am so worried…" Van started, "it seems that Balgus is the leader of the rebels who are attacking Freid."

"But that's impossible! We both saw that Balgus was killed when Fanelia was destroyed, and that was a long time ago," Hitomi said in disbelief.

"I know. And Balgus would never go against his homeland. But I suppose I shall find out soon enough. Might even be while I'm in Freid," Van said.

"But that's no reason to leave us behind. We might be of some help," Hitomi argued.

"I know," said Van, "which is why I'm willing to let you come, if you want to. But please promise me that you will be careful and stay away from the fighting."

"No need to worry," Hitomi replied.

"Good. Please tell the others that they are free to come as well, and be up bright and early," Van requested. With that he walked out of the room, thinking _'Oh, Hitomi. You always manage to make me change my mind. Quite the power that you possess.'_


	13. Thirteen

Morning came soon; it seemed that no sooner had she closed her eyes than Merle began her routine of jumping on her bed. "GET UP!" Merle exclaimed. Hitomi didn't even have time to open her eyed before Merle began to slap her cheek. "YOU'RE GONNA MAKE LORD VAN LATE, YOU STUPID GIRL!!!" Merle was losing patience. Hitomi threw a pillow at Merle, who then fell off of the bed.

"I'm getting up, Merle," said Hitomi getting out of bed, glaring at Merle, and holding her cheek. Hitomi got her school uniform on and threw everything into her duffel bag, ready to leave.

* * *

They all met at a big cargo ship that was already holding 100 guymelefs (and Escaflowne) as well as the pilots to the guymelefs. "Well, it seems that we're all here," Van started, when suddenly a figure began to run toward him.

"I heard about the little trip to Freid," the voice said, "And having never gone to Freid before, I though I might like to come along." Stepping out of the shadows they knew that this could be none other than Dryden.

"Of course you can come," said Van. "However I don't think there is going to be much to see other than fighting."

"I'm sure I can find something that sparks my interest," Dryden contorted hopping on to the ship. They just stared at him in wonder. "Well are we going or not?" And with that they snapped out of it and got onto the cargo ship, which then took of for Freid.

* * *

Meanwhile on the floating fortress (that was hijacked from Zaibach, which really wasn't an enemy country save for the rebels) Balgus was talking to the generals from the other countries represented in this battle. All of them were rebels and after the same thing. "Why are we attacking Freid?" asked one general. "It is nothing more than a country full of monks and a ruler that is a mere boy. We could gain so much more by attacking Asturia as we had planned."

A sorcerer whispered into Balgus' ear. Balgus answered the question, "By gaining control of Freid we will have a stronghold on the other countries and a place to rest before attacking them. We can gain supplies, and this should prove to be easy." 

The sorcerer nodded in approval and a sadistic grin spread across his face. Soon they would be in Freid.


	14. Fourteen

"Aunt Millerna!" Duke Chid exclaimed. "And it seems that Fanelia, Hitomi, and Merle are here as well. Who are those other two?" Chid said, curiosity overcoming him.

"That is Dryden and Allen's sister, Celena," Millerna replied.

"Is Allen Schezar coming?" Chid asked, anxious to see his hero again.

Sadness suddenly overcame Millerna remembering that Chid is Allen's son. "We don't know, he was in Asturia."

"Oh," said Chid obviously disappointed. "What brings you here, Fanelia?"

Van explained, "Rebels from Zaibach and the neighboring countries are going to try to attack Freid. We came to offer our services."

"We are most grateful for you assistance, and friendship, Fanelia," Prince Chid said, trying to keep from showing how upset he was.

Chid and Millerna went off to talk for a bit, with Merle and Celena to join in a bit. Dryden went to the cargo ship for a little bit of snooping around to see what he could learn. Van also went to check on Escaflowne to get ready for battle. And that left Hitomi, who just wanted to sit outside…

She had bad memories of this place. A doppelganger had tried to have them killed, but ended up getting killed by Dilandau. There had been a bloody battle in which the Duke of Freid had been killed. And they gave the power of Atlantis to Dornkirk, which caused to much death and suffering. Then there was Chid… a pleasant boy who was full of heart. He became an orphan because he didn't know who his real father was. This boy thought that he was all alone in the world. His mother died long ago, the Duke of Freid died in battle, and Voris died there to save his life as well. 

She was sitting outside, alone with her thoughts when a voice said, "You seem troubled, is everything alright, Hitomi?"

It was Chid. "I was just thinking," Hitomi answered.

"I remember what you told me that last time you were her, Hitomi. You said to keep saying 'I wish I were' and the stars would help. The power of the stars; I have been trying to be a strong ruler like my father, and I'm going to keep wishing that I will be," Chid was obviously sad by the loss of his "father." This young boy was wise for his age, and Hitomi loved him as a brother. She knew that she should tell him the truth.

"Duke Chid, there is something that I think you should know," Hitomi started.

"Yes, Hitomi?" Chid asked.

'_Oh, no.' _Hitomi thought, _'I'm putting myself in the middle again.'_ "Believe in them," she heard her grandmother say. "It's nothing really, I just wanted to ask for your advice. Um… Van asked me to marry him, and I'm not quite sure what to say," Hitomi decided to let Allen tell him, if he wanted to.

"Van seems very kind, I'm sure he will make you happy, Hitomi," Chid replied smiling.

"I'm not sure if I can help rule a country," Hitomi explained.

"Just ask the stars to help you. I'm sure you'd make a kind ruler," Chid smiled, and Hitomi was obviously comforted by his words.

"Hitomi, I need to talk to you," Van started.

"Of course, Van," Hitomi smiled at Chid then held Van's hand and they walked inside together.

Chid looked at the sky and whispered to himself, "The power of the stars…" 


	15. Fifteen

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Van?" Hitomi asks once they are alone inside.

"I just can't believe that Balgus would do this… I want you to do a reading for me. PLEASE HITOMI, I NEED TO KNOW!" Van was obviously troubled.

"I can't do readings anymore… bad things always happen," Hitomi begged Van not to ask.

"Please Hitomi. Bad things happen regardless… I need to know," Van pleaded again… his eyes filling with tears. Balgus was the only person he had for a long time. He was an orphan, even more alone than Chid.

"Ok, Van," Hitomi agreed, seeing the tears in his eyes and realizing how alone he really was. "But please remember that you are the one to deal with whatever the cards say."

"Of course, Hitomi," Van responded, realizing that he couldn't argue with the cards and would have to take it, as the King of Fanelia should.

Hitomi got the cards out from the pocket of her jacket. She shuffled them a few times and again laid the cards out in the Celtic cross position. Looking on the side she saw cards in the order of: Death, magician, sun, hanged man. Hitomi suddenly had a vision.

* * *

She saw Balgus dead on the ground. Suddenly a strange man picked him up and carried him away. Suddenly she was in a strange room filled with strange devises. Balgus was laid out on a table, but suddenly he awoke. "Where am I!?" Balgus demanded to know.

"You are on a ship under control by Zaibach. We brought you back to life, and you will be a great help to us," the sorcerer said.

"Never! I will never help Zaibach after what you did to Fanelia!" Balgus yelled.

"So sure of that?" the sorcerer left Balgus tied up on the table and went to go get some mind-control drugs. While the sorcerer was gone Folken snuck into the room. 

"I'll get you out of here, Balgus," Folken started to untie him.

"Is that you, Lord Folken?" Balgus said in disbelief.

"Yes, Balgus," Folken continued to try to untie him.

"You are working for Zaibach now?" the grief was too much for Balgus to bear and he passed out. With no way to lift this incredibly large man, Folken started to leave.

"What are you doing in here, Folken Stratagos? You will disturb all of my efforts. Please see you way out," and with that the sorcerer zapped Folken out of the room and locked the door.

* * *

"What did you see, Hitomi?" Van asked. Hitomi explained what she saw to him, sparing no detail. "My brother… tried to help him?" Van still refused to realize that Folken was a good guy.

"Yes, Van," Hitomi replied, "And he saved us all by killing Dornkirk. He isn't the traitor that you would like to think of him as sometimes."

"I know that he isn't a traitor… and I do miss my brother, I really do... It's just that—I don't know," exasperated he slumped down.

"I'm guessing you don't need me to finish the reading?" Hitomi asked.

"No, I know all that I need, thank you," Van was scared to hear much more.

Just then the horn blew to indicate an attack. Van kissed Hitomi on the cheek then ran off to get into Escaflowne.

"Oh, Van. I worry about you so much," Hitomi said to herself. She continued to pick the cards up when the King of Dragons caught her eye.


	16. Sixteen

The troops were suited up in their guymelefs and ready to battle. The enemy was already there, and prepared. The surprise to everyone was the fact that they seemed reluctant to crush the city. Instead they stayed outside of it, so that little would be destroyed. They stood there and hoped the people of Freid would attack them first.

Soon the battle was in full fledge. Such a battle scene that had been seen before, yet was still amazing. The clank of the swords hitting each other, the slain bodies on the ground, blood seeping into the ground that all of this fighting was for, the guymelef wreckage surrounded by flames… such were the scenes of battle. 

Halfway into the fighting knights of Asturia came to aid with the fighting, on the side of Freid of course. Van jabbed his sword into the chest of a guymelef, lacerating the driver to the point where he was almost cut in half. "I'm down!" the driver gave his last words before the guymelef fell as well, killing them both.

Van then ran to help another guymelef who was trying to fight five others at once, although he really didn't seem to need help. The both of them managed to take them out. Swords flew. Van knocked the sword out of one's hand and then bashed in the armor over its face. "AHHH!" the blood-curdling scream arose from what was left of the guymelefs face armor. Not paying attention, Van attacked the next, slicing it in half with ease. To his surprise the other three were already down.

"Allen?" Van asked.

"Van?" Allen asked at the same time. "Your skill has improved, but you should be back in Fanelia."

"I was here first, I am entitled to help if I want to," Van contorted.

"What are you two doing?" the elderly Caeli knight from before asked. "Attack the enemy, not each other. Now get going… the battle isn't over yet." With that he attacked another guymelef sending deadly blows onto its head.

* * *

"We need more cloth in here!" Millerna exclaimed. "He's going to die if we don't bind these wounds."

Merle bounced into the room, glad to be of help, with some more cloth. "You know, princess, I know a better technique for closing wounds like that. Here let me show you," Dryden then stitched up the wounds on Millerna's patient.

"I had no idea that you knew about medicine, Dryden," Millerna replied. _'He looks so handsome helping out these people like that,'_ she thought.

"As I said, my intelligence is second to none," with that Dryden went back to helping his own patient. But still he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, proud that she was so amazed with him. _'She loves me,'_ he thought to himself.

"Humph… I came all the way over here and you people don't even need my cloth… honestly," Merle scowled.

"Yes, we do, Merle," Millerna took some cloth and wrapped up the freshly stitched wounds. Then she addressed everyone who was helping in the room, "We must not dawdle, the wounded are falling every second. Please make haste while retrieving them as well, but be sure not to take the enemy soldiers."

* * *

Van and Allen were fighting, but not each other. It seemed that Freid was going to win, when all of a sudden they felt like they were being lifted up into the sky. "Huh?" Van wondered.

"What the?!" Allen piped in. "Where are we going?"

"How should I know?" said Van bitterly.

The fighting stopped momentarily below as all saw the two guymelefs being hoisted into the air by odd beams of light that seemed to go nowhere. Soon they were out of sight and they went back to fighting.

Van and Allen found themselves in an odd room. The walls were all gray, as was the floor. The room was large and round, with no door in sight. "Welcome to my humble abode," a voice boomed.

Standing in front of them was a tall sorcerer and an even taller swordsman… Balgus. 


	17. Seventeen

"Who are you?!" demanded Allen.

"I am Lingrad," said the sorcerer. "And I think you both know who this is."

"Balgus?!?!" exclaimed Allen in surprise, as he still didn't know about this, whereas Van did.

"You will pay for what you did to Balgus!" Van shouted, his voice full of hatred.

"Oh, and what would that be? Gave him life again? What a shame… I thought you boys liked Balgus," Lingrad said.

"You didn't give him life. You took it away! Controlling him using mind-control drugs is not giving life," Van argued, sword still unsheathed. 

"Mind control, or no mind control, he's still alive, isn't he?" Lingrad contorted.

"Balgus would not want to live to be one of your pawns?" Van screamed, ready to strike Lingrad.

"Balgus… attack," Lingrad commanded Balgus, as if he was a dog.

Balgus struck at Van, still as good as when he had been alive. Van gasped. Swords were flying, but Balgus was much stronger. It didn't take long before Van was pinned up against the wall, barely able block Balgus' blows.

"ALLEN!" Van exclaimed. He needed help, but Allen was very much frozen in place. One might have thought it was a spell placed on him by the sorcerer, and in a way it was. Allen was so shocked at Balgus being alive that he just froze… and was alone in his own little world of thought.

* * *

Hitomi shrieked. She was seeing the fight scene again. She knew what she had to do; believing in them would only go so far. She must telepathically send a message to Allen. He needed to help Van!

Allen saw Hitomi in his mind. "You must fight Balgus, and save Van!" Hitomi pleaded.

"I can't—" Allen started. "Balgus taught me everything I know, I can't go against my own swords-master."

"You must!" Hitomi cried. "Balgus isn't your swords-master any more… he isn't himself. He is being controlled by a sorcerer."

"But—" Allen was still too reluctant to fight.

"Balgus isn't himself. He deserves better than to be controlled by a Zaibach sorcerer. You should do this for him as one last favor," Hitomi argued.

"Right!" said Allen, "This Zaibach scum must die! Lingrad shan't get away with this!" 

Allen quickly drew his sword and went flying right towards Balgus' back. The sorcerer gasps. Van was surprised as well, having thought that Allen would never help and the end would come soon. But Balgus quickly turned around and blocked his hit. Immediately Van charged at him.

Balgus easily blocked Van's blow. _'You aren't charging aggressively enough, Prince Van.'_ The words rang through Van's head. "I'll get you… YOU IMPOSTER! YOU AREN'T REALLY BALGUS! FOR ALL I KNOW, YOU COULD BE A DOPPELGANGER!!!" Van then charged with all of his might, knocking Balgus to the ground.

Van then drew his sword through Balgus, although he was very much appalled by the idea. "May you finally rest in peace, Balgus," Van wiped the combination of sweat and blood off of his forehead and got up.

"Very well done," Lingrad said," I didn't think either of you would have the guts to attack your swords-master, which by the way he was. I would never stoop to the level of using a doppelganger," Lingrad contorted, insulting Folken once again. "You may have killed Balgus, but you will never get to me." A beam of black light (yes, black light) picked him up. "Ta-ta boys, I'll see you in, say Fanelia. I shall be taking over in the future. Yes very soon in the future," Lingrad had to get the last word.

"That old rat!" Van exclaimed. "He shall never take over Fanelia! NEVER!"

For once Allen fell silent. _'Balgus gave me everything. Now he has died for the second time, everyone I care about leaves… why does it always happen this way.'_

Suddenly a beam of light came and picked the both of them up, taking them away to a destination unbeknownst to all involved. 


	18. Eighteen

"Huh?" Van wondered. "We're back in Freid."

"Yes, it would appear so," Allen agreed. "And it seems that the fighting is over."

"Can you tell who won?" Van asked.

"No, the floating fortresses aren't to be seen, but that could mean several different things," Allen explained. "But there is only one thing to do, because we can't easily stay out here forever wondering." Allen began to walk to the front door of the castle.

"But if the enemy took it over they will see you, if you use the front door. And as good of a swordsman as you are, they would probably take you prisoner," Van argued.

"Good idea, I'll check through a window on the side then," Allen said, starting for the window. Van followed behind, trying to remain stealthy.

"It's okay, it's just Millerna and Hitomi in there!" Allen called down to Van.

"EEEK!!!" cried Millerna. "What are you doing spying through our window?!?! God, you really are a playboy!" Millerna then slammed the window on Allen, causing him to lose balance.

"Damn it, Van. I said we could have just used the front door," Allen said angrily.

"Well, no one ever said to use HITOMI and MILLERNA'S window," Van angrily contorted.

In silence the two angrily trudged toward the door. Once inside, Allen was met with a very angry Dryden, Millerna, and Hitomi. Luckily they thought to spare Allen the embarrassment of telling Celena and Chid. "What were you doing spying through Millerna's window?" Dryden angrily asked.

Harsh words flew when suddenly Van decided to step in. "Allen and I got back from killing Balgus, again. We were simply trying to get inside without drawing attention to ourselves, in case the enemy had taken over," Van explained.

"Oh, Van," sighed Hitomi, "I'm so glad you are alright. I saw part of the fight in a vision. You were pinned up against the wall!"

"You aren't talking about Balgus, one of the greatest swordsmen of all times are you?" Dryden asked, amazed.

"Yes, and we was mine and Allen's swords-master," Van said. "But he wasn't really alive, just controlled by a sorcerer, which we will have to go after. He claims to threaten Fanelia!" Van said adamantly.

"Given a map, I could probably find him, like I did for you, Van, when you were in Zaibach's floating fortress with Folken," Hitomi offered.

"That would be of the greatest help, Hitomi," Van said.

Soon Hitomi was busy dousing, the rest watching her (amazed) especially Dryden. Seeing that no one needed him, Allen wandered off. He ran into (not literately) Chid in the hallway. "You are here, Allen Schezar!" Chid exclaimed, very glad to see him again.

"Duke Chid," Allen responded surprised. _'Look how scared and alone he seems,'_ he thought to himself. "_You should tell him the truth,'_ Marlene's voice ran through his head. "I have something of the utmost importance to tell you."

"What is it, Allen Schezar," Chid asked innocently.

"I don't know how to say this… please try to understand. Your mother and I were very much in love before she married your father. Duke Chid, you are our son," Allen tried to explain.

Chid stood in disbelief for a while. "Father?" he asked, amazed. Chid hugged Allen, he was no longer alone and his hero was really his father. "That means that the Duke of Freid wasn't my father? So am I not the heir to the throne then?"

"Chid, the Duke already knew. He wanted you to be the heir to the throne. He knew you would do a good job. Stay strong," Allen walked away with tears in his eyes. This would be difficult for the both of them.

* * *

"He's in the Great Desert?" asked Dryden, amazed. "Nothing can survive there, it is even worse off then the Mystic Valley."

"But that's where my pendant says he is," said Hitomi, beginning to get annoyed with Dryden's constant questioning.

"Then that is where we must go," declared Van.

"I'll tell Gaddes," responded Allen from the shadows. "He flew over with me, on the Crusade. The rest of the crew is with him as well."

"Good, then we shall leave as soon as possible," Van said intently.


	19. Nineteen

The crew had all piled into the Crusade, and Gaddes was reluctantly flying them to the Great Desert. Everyone knew how treacherous it was to fly above it, let alone confront a wizard of incredible power once you get there. The trip is incredibly long, and often proves quite eventful. Such seems to be the case.

* * *

Dryden was in a room reading up on the Great Desert, so he can be prepared to give advice once they get there. Suddenly there was a gentle tapping on his door. "Who's there?" he asked, wondering who disturbed his reading.

"It's me, Millerna," she responded walking into the door.

"Ah, Princess. What brings you here?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"I was wondering if you could tell me a little about what to expect in the Great Desert?" Mililani coyly asked.

"Why certainly, Princess," Dryden replied, "they don't say that my intelligence is second to none for nothing." And with that he began to tell her all about the history of it, all the meanwhile she was looking into his eyes and falling more and more in love with him.

* * *

Allen was looking out of the window, thinking about Chid and the fact that he left him behind without so much as a goodbye. Unexpectedly someone lightly put a hand on his shoulder. "You should have told him," it was Hitomi.

"I did," he replied indifferently.

"What happened?" she wondered.

"He was surprised, but he hugged me," Allen responded. "And I left him. I left my son to rule a country by himself, and didn't even say goodbye."

"I think you were as surprised as he was," Hitomi comforted.

"I just don't know what to do. I think it is almost better if I leave him to rule Freid. He should grow up to be a strong ruler, and I'm not sure if I could help him with that," Allen explained.

"Chid is strong. Whatever you decide I'm sure he'll be able to handle," Hitomi smiled, thinking of Chid and the power of the stars.

* * *

"Find me again, Lord Van!" Merle exclaimed hiding behind another piece of furniture. 

Van saw the pendant in his mind; it pointed to behind the bookshelf. "Behind the bookshelf," he said and pointed.

"You found me!" Merle was still as happy with Van on the 257th time as on the first. Van, however, wasn't.

"Please Merle, no more," Van begged exasperated.

"Fine, Lord Van, I guess we've done that enough," Merle said defeated. She sat quietly for a minute or two, allowing Van to sit and think for a little while.

"Ok, how about I hide my nail file and then you find it!" Merle then burst out gleefully. Then she scampered to go hide it. "No fair looking, Lord Van. Close your eyes," Merle demanded.

Van just sighed and closed his eyes, and began to doze off, oblivious to the whole world, especially Merle.

* * *

Millerna had been listening to Dryden talk for a long time. Even a person interested in the subject would have fallen asleep by then. Suddenly Millerna blurt out, "I think that breaking up was all wrong. I still love you, even if you want to be a merchant. I don't have to become the Queen and you won't have to be King. We could run away to another country if you want to. We could see the world—" Dryden cut her off with a kiss.

"I would like that very much," he replied.

* * *

Celena had been talking to Gaddes. "Well, I think we have him right there," said Gaddes pointing to the ground. "That dark lone figure could very well be the wizard that the boss was talking about." Gaddes called Allen in.

"That's him alright. Now he shall pay for what he did to Balgus," Allen stated with vigor.


	20. Twenty

"Lower us down," Allen ordered. He and Van were inside of a basket for lowering or picking up people. "I want you to fly to the point where you can just see us, and be back in due time if needed."

"Ok, Commander," Gaddes replied.

"If no sooner, be back in 2 hours," Allen commanded.

"Aye, sir," Gaddes then lowered them down into the treacherous desert. 

They plod through the desert until the reached him. He had been waiting for them the whole time. "You dare face the great Lingrad… pitiful fools. But you shall see no pity from me," with that he zapped the crusade back to Fanelia.

* * *

"What's happening?!?!" exclaimed Hitomi as she and the rest of the crew were thrown all over the Crusade. 

Millerna was thrown into Dryden's arms was the ship lurched forward. "Thanks," she weakly responded.

"It looks like—" Merle started, "It looks like we are back in the courtyard of Fanelia. They all gasped with disbelief.

* * *

"Now it seems that even if you killed me, you wouldn't have a way back," Lingrad taunted. "It seems that you shall be eaten by the buzzards, or more likely the giant desert dragons that prowl around these parts. I knew I could lure you here by saying I would take over Fanelia."

"You shan't get away with this, you fiend!" Allen shouted.

"Watch and see," again Lingrad taunted them. The same black light came to pick him up again, but this time Van and Allen were ready. It seems that they had the same idea and charged at him tearing Lingrad into many pieces. The black light stopped and Lingrad's many pieces fell onto the hot sand, the black blood seeping into the golden granules of sand.

"That was easy, too easy," said Van suspiciously.

"I think that old sorcerer had more in mind than taking over," Allen said. "I bet this was more of a plan to have us die in the desert."

"We have to get away from his corpse," Van said, "the blood will attract the desert dragons."

"Where can we go?" asked Allen. "We will surely perish in the desert. We have no water; we couldn't last more than a couple of days."

* * *

By now the unhappy travelers had unpacked and gone back to the rooms. Suddenly Hitomi had a vision

__

Van and Allen were stranded in the desert. A pack of hungry desert dragons had them surrounded. One struck at Van pinning him to the ground with one gigantic claw. It then took liberty to sink his teeth into him. The blood flew all over the place.

"What is it, Hitomi?" asked Merle.

"WE MUST SAVE VAN!" shouted Hitomi with tears in her eyes and fear in her heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still not done updating it… I'm on part 27 now, I believe… I shall soon have it finished… but NO ONE SEEMS TO READ IT! So if u read it, please be a dear and review it… thank you


	21. Twenty-one

"I'm sorry, Hitomi," replied Gaddes, "we probably couldn't have made it in time. And the wizard probably banned us from the desert all together. And if not, then who knows what he will do when we go back? It's simply too dangerous."

"We can't just leave them! What kind of a person are you???" Hitomi stormed out of there, very upset.

* * *

"The dragons are coming; I can sense them," Van declared. "Let's go this way!" The both started running, but it was futile. Soon they were surrounded. Van knew from the dragon that he fought long ago, as well as the many dragons in Fanelia that one time with Folken, that this would be difficult.

These were desert dragons, unlike the dragons in Fanelia they won't leave if you sheath your sword and get rid of the rage in your heart, they were of the worst variety. They sensed blood and were attracted to anything that had blood (yes, even more bloodthirsty than Dilandau had been… which many would have never thought possible.) Their scales were like titanium, their breath the equivalent of a thousand suns, but they had one weakness… they were slow. But that weakness was more than compensated when in groups, they attacked rapid-fire.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Van as his sword struck the dragon's scales and clanked off. The, now enraged, dragon knocked Van over with a massive claw. Allen had no more luck than Van. Soon they were surrounded.

* * *

"Oh Van," cried Hitomi, clutching her pendant. "Please come back safely… please…" She looked up at the stars. _'The power of the stars,'_ she thought. Up in the night sky a star began to nova, and Hitomi's pendant began to shine a bright red.

* * *

The dragon now used its sharp tail to come down on Van's head. This time there was no Hitomi to warn him of it. "Van!" screamed Allen. Van looked up, he knew there was no time to avoid it. Suddenly Van disappeared. Allen was now alone to face seven very hungry dragons.

* * *

"Van!" Hitomi exclaimed as she ran up and hugged him. He was finally back, and safe. Hitomi noticed the cut across Van's face. "Maybe we had better go inside."

Once inside Van got the typical greeting from Merle. She ran and jumped into his arms. "I was so worried, Lord Van! Thank goodness you're all right, thank goodness!"

"Yes, I'm glad to be back, Merle," Van replied, stroking her pink hair.

"Let me help you with that nasty cut, Van," Millerna offered.

She stitched him up, as Dryden had taught her, and placed a bandage over it. "There, good as new," she declared, proud of her work.

"Thank you, Millerna," Van said with much gratitude.

"Where's my brother," asked Celena, not meaning to put a damper on the celebration.

"He was… um… surrounded by a pack of enraged desert dragons when I left," Van said, trying not to worry her, but he didn't want to lie.

Celena started sobbing. It turned into hysterics. "OH, BROTHER!" she screamed. Her sobbing would not stop and only got worse.

"Are you okay? Celena?" asked Hitomi.

"Celena?" questioned Dilandau, who had once again emerged.


	22. Twenty-two

"Celena?" questioned Gaddes who had become particularly fond of the gentle young woman.

"Ugh… why do people seem to have this issue with mixing my name up?" Dilandau by now was quite tired of this. Then he realized his surroundings. His shifty, bloodthirsty eyes darted around the room. "Where am I?" he demanded to know. "And WHY THE HELL AM I WEARING A DRESS?!?!" Dilandau was quite upset upon realizing that he was wearing a long lavender dress, which had looked rather lovely on Celena (in Gaddes opinion.)

Gaddes by now was quite sick. Although he was a rather high rank of Allen's crew, he didn't know about the Celena/Dilandau thing. This girl, who he has secretly kissed just hours before, was a guy now. A very bloodthirsty bad guy who had caused them much problems, in fact. 

"SHESTER!" Dilandau exclaimed. A while went by, still no response.

"Remember, I killed him," Van replied. He had just been standing there amazed, although he knew that Dilandau was actually Celena, and Allen's sister at that. He almost felt sorry for her/him. 

"GATTY!" Dilandau shouted this time, hoping for a response. None came.

"I killed him too," replied Van, almost smugly. 

"DALLET!" Dilandau tried again, losing hope.

"Him too," Van said, kind of happy at his advantage over Dilandau, who needed to be caught up.

"Miguel?" Dilandau wasn't so sure this time, and it reflected in his tone of voice.

"Actually, I didn't kill this one," Van replied. Dilandau sighed and started to yell for Miguel. He was cut off by Van. "The doppelganger killed him while in Freid."

"Oh yeah, I remember now… JAJUKA!!!" Dilandau still didn't seem to get it.

"Jajuka was killed a little bit before the Atlantis machine was destroyed," Van explained, beginning to grow tired of how feeble Dilandau had become.

"Right… I knew that," replied Dilandau, "I was just making sure that you did. Where the hell am I going to get a guymelef now?" Dilandau ran out to the Crusade. There he saw Escaflowne. Dilandau shuddered at the though of getting into Escaflowne, after what happened last time he touched the energist. But Dilandau could not be stopped now; he hopped into Escaflowne.

"Only a King of Fanelia can drive Escaflowne!" shouted Van, remembering the blood pact. 

"I'll deal with you later, Van Fanel," Dilandau replied with a smug look on his face as he flew off. "Yes, I will enjoy defeating them once and for all."


	23. Twenty-three

Allen was now staggering across the desert. Up ahead was a cave, where he decided to rest. He had a deep gash on his shoulder as well as a broken ankle, but other than that he had escaped from the dragons. 

Finally making it into the cave Allen collapsed into a fitful sleep. He was quite lucky that dragons didn't inhabit the cave, but that wasn't his only concern. He kept dreaming about Celena; he knew she was in trouble.

* * *

"What are we going to do now?" asked Millerna, who was probably the most disgusted and upset about the whole situation (except for Gaddes.)

"Well, we must stop Dilandau," replied Van who still was full of hatred for him.

"Don't forget about saving Allen," reminded Hitomi.

Merle slumped down. "And I though we were finished. We saved Freid, destroyed most of the rebel army, killed Balgus, killed the sorcerer, got Lord Van back from the desert in one piece, and got back to Fanelia… what more could anyone possibly want?"

Naturally everyone was amazed at how much Merle knew, half of the stuff no one had even told her. It seemed that Merle was better at eavesdropping than anyone had suspected. Dryden was particularly impressed. 

"Well, anyway," Gaddes started, trying to ignore that weird cat girl that chased Van around all over the place, and was always where she shouldn't have been, "we need to get to it. We have much to do, and time is of the essence."

"It would be easier if we knew where Dilandau was going," Van started. Hitomi began to take out her pendant and map again. "Wait, we can reason this out. No need to depend on you again. If we put all of our brains together—" Van then looked around the room. An annoying cat girl, a ditzy princess, a fickle girl from the Mystic Moon, an overzealous rich man, and a man who was still very much in shock upon finding that his love interest was both male and female… all were in this room. "Well, I suppose that between the—" Van then counted on his fingers, "six of us we can figure this out."

"Well," started Millerna who was looking forward to helping out, "there is no more Vione, so he couldn't have gone there."

"Yes, and the sorcerer and Balgus are both dead. So he couldn't have tracked either of them down," Hitomi offered.

"I could definitely see in his eyes that he looking to spill some blood," shuddered Van.

"I've got it," Gaddes was probably the most capable out of the lot of them when it came to matters of the brain, "She… I mean he… no wait… um, IT probably isn't as dumb as it let on. Dilandau probably knows all that Celena does, so I think he'll probably track down what was left of the rebel army. I know we didn't completely destroy them, we just kind of assumed that they would give up after the sorcerer was killed."

"That sounds about right," agreed Dryden.

Van was by now getting quite tired with this war that would just not end, not matter how hard he fought. "I'm sure that by flying within the proximity of Freid, we should be able to find their flying fortress. Once in there I plan to get Escaflowne back and then we could probably take down their army, which has been greatly weakened (of which I am sure.)"

"And then save Allen," reminded Hitomi again.

"Right, and save Allen," Van agreed.

"To the Crusade then!" declared Gaddes.

* * *

"Who do you say you are again?" asked one general.

"I am Dilandau. I was placed under the order of Lord Dornkirk and fought next to Folken Strategos much of the time. I was at much of the same battles of the four demon armies," Dilandau explained.

"Oh… next to Folken Strategos?" another general said, quite disappointed. They whispered amongst themselves for a while. "I suppose we can give you a chance. We will have a guymelef specially made, in return for your Escaflowne."

"Only if you make it exactly according to how I want it?" Dilandau grinned evilly thinking of his red guymelef, capable of burning down an entire country.


	24. Twenty-four

By now Gaddes was flying the Crusade and they were on their way back to Freid. Hearts were heavy as all of them had been through so much already, yet were going back for more.

Allen was still in the desert, dead for as much as they knew. Celena had turned back into Dilandau and would for sure put up quite a fight. The army was weakened, but still capable of putting up a fight (with or without Balgus and the sorcerer.) 

Gaddes, who was usually a great pilot, was having much difficulty flying them there. They were bouncing all over the place, despite the fact that they weren't under attack and the weather wasn't that bad. Eventually Gaddes came to his senses and gave the wheel back to Kio. Gaddes then found himself a room in the back to sit and think.

Van was staring out of the window thinking about Balgus. It hadn't been easy killing him, even if he wasn't himself. Merle couldn't watch Van look so sad any longer, so she crept up and decided to stand next to him, so that they could look sad together. 

Hitomi was deeply saddened by Van's depression, but had a bit of thinking to do for herself. A lot had happened yet again. And even more was to come. Did she really want to stay here forever? Surely this would continue to happen. 'Fighting begets fighting, and then the fighting starts anew.' There could be no fight to stop fighting, such a concept is a total contradiction, for you would be alienating your own ideals. Sure she loved Van, but is that enough to stay there for?

They finally reached within the limits of Freid, but spirits were low. And fighting with a low morale is never a good idea, but one can't exactly help it sometimes.

* * *

"It's so beautiful!" Dilandau said, in awe of his blood red guymelef. "Lovely! Now I can crush Allen Schezar for good!" Remembering her brother, a little bit of Celena came out of Dilandau. "Brother…" he sighed.

"What's that, Lord Dilandau?" asked the mechanic, hoping that the guymelef met his requirements.

"Nothing, I think I'll take if for a test drive," Dilandau replied.

"I have orders saying that this guymelef is not to leave the anchorage until the general says so," the mechanic argued.

"Is that so?" a sadistic grin spread across Dilandau's face and he swing is hand out to slap the mechanic.

"I think it is best that you leave the guymelef storage area," contorted the mechanic, catching Dilandau's hand.

"Very well," replied Dilandau defeated, "I do need a bit of rest."

Just then the alarm sounded. "Intruders entering the fourth quadrant. All personnel report to the hanger with their guymelefs. Prepare to attack!" This caused a wave of soldiers going to get their guymelefs, going to the hanger, and flying out of the ship.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Dilandau got into his guymelef and flew out of the ship. If it weren't for the attack about to be launched on the Crusade, someone would have stopped him from going in the opposite direction, right for the Great Desert.

"Brother…" Celena's voice was growing stronger in Dilandau's head. 


	25. Twenty-five

"Ugh…" Allen groaned. He was still lying in the cave, on a puddle of his own blood. "I had probably better leave this cave. The dragons could come back any minute now, and no one could ever find me in this cave," he said to himself. Thus he staggered out of the cave into the desert.

* * *

"We have company," muttered Gaddes, grabbing the wheel. He tried to steer them away from the enemy guymelefs that were tailing them.

"Just land down there," ordered Van… preparing to get into Escaflowne.

"But majesty! You alone cannot take out an enemy of that size!" Gaddes argued.

"Yeah," agreed Piro. 

"But we need to! There is no chance of escaping them!" Van shouted back.

"We'll see about that!" Gaddes replied, speeding up the Crusade and trying to make a break for it.

* * *

"Ah ha! I think I see him in the distance. You are mine, Allen Schezar!" Dilandau shouted, despite the obvious fact that there was no possible way that Allen could have heard him. Dilandau made his way there incredibly fast. That new guymelef was really powerful, and could easily out-move Escaflowne, given the chance.

"HUH!?! The red guymelef! But that would be Dilandau's… that's not possible…" then it came to him. "Oh no! Celena turned back into Dilandau!"

"Brother!" Celena was much stronger now, and took over. As the guymelef sped towards the unaware Allen, she had fully taken over. Celena scooped Allen up into the guymelef's giant hand, much to his surprise. Then they sped off, towards Freid.

* * *

"Didn't you say that there were still Asturian and Freidan troops still at Freid?" Hitomi asked.

"Yes, that's right," replied Gaddes.

"Well, we would probably do a lot better with the help of the troops there. We can't run forever; we will eventually be caught," said Hitomi, worried.

"Right," replied Gaddes. He then swiftly flew them there, avoiding guymelefs right and left.

The people at Freid were none too glad to see them. They managed to bring a whole fleet of Guymelefs with them. Upon landing Chid ran up to the ship. 

"Is Allen Schezar on board?" Chid asked anxiously.

They all looked sad, but no one replied. Finally Millerna decided that she had best tell him. "Would you care to go inside with me?" They walked inside and found a room away from prying ears. "Prince Chid?"

"Yes, Aunt Millerna?" he replied.

"Well, when we left here a few days ago we chased a sorcerer into the Great Desert—" Millerna started.

"The Great Desert!?!? I heard that it is full of dragons and that nothing else could ever survive there!" Chid exclaimed amazed.

"Yes, what you heard is probably true… Allen and Van managed to kill the sorcerer, but ended up being attacked by dragons," Millerna added, trying to put it as gently as possible.

Chid gasped. "Are they alright?" 

"Hitomi wished Van back… or something like that. But Allen was left alone with the dragons. We haven't had a chance to rescue him yet," Millerna replied.

Chid started sobbing. Millerna tried to comfort him, but it seemed to be no use.

* * *

The guymelefs surrounded the castle. Being in no big hurry to destroy them, they gave them room to send out their guymelefs. Most of all they were looking for a fight.

Up from behind came the red guymelef, still carrying Allen. The red guymelef pushed through the circle of other guymelefs. Upon reaching the door, Celena let Allen down. Celena had done what she wanted to do, so Dilandau took over. "I'll deal with you later… Allen Schezar!" he exclaimed and flew off.


	26. Twenty-six

"Allen!" exclaimed Hitomi, feeling his presence.

"What is it, Hitomi? Is something wrong?" Van asked.

"No, Allen's here. I don't know how it's possible… but he's back!" Hitomi replied, glad that her friend made it back safely.

Van was troubled by how glad Hitomi was to have Allen back, but decided just to ignore it for now. If Allen were here he would be in need of some medical attention.

Hitomi and Van ran to the door. Just as Hitomi had thought, Allen was standing there (well, kinda leaning against the wall because of his ankle.) "Here Allen, we'll help you inside," Hitomi said. They helped him inside and then onto a bench. Then they left him to Millerna.

Millerna decided that she would play doctor again. _'Oh god, not Millerna again! She doesn't know what she'd doing most of the time'_ Allen thought. Millerna got out her little blue bag and her book. 

"Ok, well it looks like you have a broken ankle… we'll just have to chop it off then. And this gash in your shoulder… hmm… well I suppose we could always glue that," she said thoughtfully. "And I'll just have to cut your hair."

"Why my hair?" asked Allen, surprised.

"Because it looks prettier and blonder than mine," Millerna replied evilly.

"VAAAANNNN!" Allen screamed. Van entered the room.

"What is it, Allen?" he asked, annoyed.

"Millerna doesn't know what she is doing," Allen whispered.

Van left the room and returned with Dryden. "Well, it looks like maybe I should handle this, Princess." Dryden said to Millerna, "After all, my intelligence is second to none."

"Humph," replied Millerna indignantly, gathering her stuff. Dryden started binding Allen's wounds.

"There," he said upon finishing. "I have bound your wounds and rid them of the venom of those cursed desert dragons."

"Thank you," said Allen, sitting up.

"No, you mustn't open the wounds again. You have to take it easy," Dryden said, pushing him down again. Then he opened up the door and let the others in and explained the same thing to them.

"But how are we supposed to get Escaflowne back? The only possible way would be to have Allen carry me on Sherizad. The other troops will be needed for attacking the army, but wouldn't be good enough to go all the way up to the floating fortress."

"Who would be qualified enough to fly Scherizad?" asked Millerna.

"Well, it can't be Van because he needs to fly back Escaflowne…" reasoned Hitomi.

"I want Hitomi to do it," Allen suddenly said.

"Me?" Hitomi asked in wonder.

"Her?" asked Merle at the same time. "But she got kidnapped by geckos. And what if she faints again? We really can't risk Lord Van's life in her hands."

Hitomi glared at Merle. Then she realized how difficult this was going to be. "But Allen… I don't know how to work a guymelef!" Hitomi protested.

"Yes you do, Hitomi. You even taught Van to control Escaflowne with his mind," Allen encouraged.

"Isn't this a job for us knights?" Gaddes asked.

"I have full confidance in Hitomi," Allen replied, then he passed out.

__

'Me fly Sherizad to the floating fortress? That sounds dangerous, but if Allen thinks I can, then I'll give it a try!' Hitomi thought.

"I guess that settles it then. Hitomi and I will leave first thing tomorrow morning, but I think we could all use some rest right now," Van told everyone.

Everyone retired to their rooms to prepare for an eventful day tomorrow.


	27. Twenty-seven

"What possible excuse could you have to explain why you went against orders and flew your guymelef to the Great Desert?" the head general demanded.

"Ah, well it was a matter involving the dragon," replied Dilandau smugly.

"But we already have his guymelef, which you brought back to us," the general replied, lightening up a bit.

"Yes, but don't you want to get the dragon himself?" Dilandau asked, quite pleased with himself.

"What use would he be to us. The destiny prognosticator engine was destroyed already. You seem to be losing your touch, Dilandau Albatou. If you don't straighten up, we will be forced to… dispose of you. And I think you know what that means," the general said, pleased that be was getting the better of Dilandau.

"It was destroyed by the dragon, but that isn't why we want him. He is one of the strongest and most deadly soldiers that they have. By bringing Allen Schezar—" Dilandau was interrupted.

"Allen Schezar? You mean that knight of Caeli. You will truly be the destruction of us, Albatou. What in the name Gaea were u thinking?" the general was obviously scared by the power that Allen possessed.

"But you have no need to worry," Dilandau was annoyed that he was interrupted. "Allen Schezar seems to be wounded pretty badly, I doubt he is any real threat…. But as I was saying… by bringing Allen Schezar back he will fly the dragon to us. And because he is so weak, we shall have no problem catching them both," Dilandau grinned at his logic.

"I suppose there is more to you than meets the eye, Lord Albatou. But I will be watching you, don't screw up. You had just better hope that your plan works," the general had to get the last word in.

Dilandau left the room. As soon as he was out of hearing range he said to himself, "That stupid old fool… well, it's good to know that I can easily out-smart him." With that Dilandau retired to his quarters.

* * *

"Do you understand, Hitomi?" Van asked.

"Of course. I fly to the flying fortress and avoid getting into any battles. I just realized one major flaw…" Hitomi realized.

"What?" asked Van.

"Scherizad can't fly," Hitomi responded.

"How could we have forgotten that major detail?" Van groaned. "Well, it was a good plan while it lasted…"

"Actually, your highness, we made some adjustments to Scherizad after the Commander left. We had been planning it for a while. We added a levistone to where the drag-energist is. We have full confidence that it should be able to fly now," Piro explained.

"Won't it fly kind of oddly? I mean, Scherizad wasn't meant to fly," Van asked.

"Don't be so snarky, your highness. Sure we know that it won't be like a dragon, but the cape should keep it balanced pretty well," he replied.

"Well, then I guess we're ready to go now. Are you ready Hitomi?" Van asked.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Van," Hitomi said, chuckling at the last time that she said almost exactly the same thing.

Hitomi climbed into Scherizad, and then grabbed Van. _'So this is why he likes flying guymelefs so much. It's so powerful, but at the same time… it's kind of horrible. Too much power is never a good thing,'_ she thought.

"Well, I guess we had better go then," Van said, interrupting Hitomi's thoughts.

They flew out into the early lights of day, but the enemy guymelefs weren't asleep…


	28. Twenty-eight

Soon they were being tailed by five enemy guymelefs. Try as she might to escape, they stayed on her tail. It seemed that Hitomi would have to fight them. "Hitomi!" Van screamed as a guymelef prepared to attack Hitomi from behind.

Swiftly she turned around, blocking the enemy sword from hitting Scherizad. "Van, what should I do?" she asked suddenly.

"Land on the ground and set me down. You will be able to fight them better this way, once you've destroyed them we can go again. Remember to go straight for the energists, it will be much faster that way," he responded.

Still struggling with the enemy's sword she responded, "Right, Van." Then pushing the sword swiftly away she hovered down to the ground. Upon reaching the ground, she set Van on the ground away from the battles. Then the enemies surrounded her.

It was five against one. It was five skilled soldiers of Zaibach versus one girl from the mystic moon who had never worked a guymelef before; it was apparent who would be victorious. With all of the fury that Van could muster when he was in a rage, Hitomi destroyed the energist of one of them.

"She's better than we thought. Do think it is safe to attack her any more?" one of the Zaibachian soldiers asked the others.

"Of course, she's one against four! And that was just a lucky shot, we'll have her soon!" a rougher voice answered.

"The General will be so pleased with us!" a third exclaimed. His words were interrupted by Hitomi's sword destroying his energist.

"WHAT THE!?!?!?!" the rough voice exclaimed, and his energist was destroyed by her too.

"AHHH!" the fourth screamed as his guymelef broke down.

"I'm out of here!" the first one ran off. Hitomi considered tailing him, then she remembered her mission. 

"Van!" she exclaimed, while picking him up. 

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful. No more guymelefs dared chase them. They figured that finally they were in the clear, but a person forgotten for a while would soon make things difficult.

* * *

"She was fearsome! She took out four men without any difficulty! I barely escaped with my life!" the soldier exclaimed to the general.

"Ah, so Dilandau's plan backfired… how dreadful," the general said happy to finally have an argument for Dilandau. "Go fetch Lord Albatou; we must have words with him," he ordered.

"What is it, General? I was just resting," Dilandau innocently asked.

"Be careful what you say, boy. Folken Strategos may take your insolence, but I certainly don't," the general was very smug about his position of authority.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Dilandau, still acting innocent.

"Never mind that. Now this man here tells me that because of your plan, four soldiers were killed," the general explained.

"Four soldiers is hardly a price to pay—" Dilandau was interrupted by the soldier.

"But they were some of the best soldiers! And I barely escaped with my life!" the soldier exclaimed.

"Oh really?" Dilandau asked. The general watched in horror as Dilandau slapped the soldier.

"So that is how you deal with soldiers who run away from battle, Albatou? Hardly the way to handle these sorts of things," the general corrected.

A smile momentarily spread across the soldier's face, looking smugly at Dilandau. But soon the smile faded. Then general grabbed the soldier by the neck and threw him out of the window of the floating fortress.

"Cowards! This is the price that I pay for not having a true army… such ruffians…" the general muttered to himself.

"I think we are going to get alone quite well, General Jiedulo," Dilandau replied, as a smug smile spread across his face.


	29. Twenty-nine

Back in Freid with the rest of the gang, Millerna was attentively caring for Allen, despite his request for her to stop. "Now don't be silly, I need to cut your hair!" Millerna exclaimed.

Allen whimpered. "Please Millerna, I just want to rest… leave me alone!"

"Maybe we had better listen to him, my sweet," Dryden said to Millerna.

Allen winced. "Okay, sweetie pumpkin," Millerna replied. Allen was about to be sick.

"Just get out of here!" Allen suddenly screamed.

"Jeez, what's his problem?" asked Millerna as she and Dryden left the room.

Allen just sighed.

* * *

By now Van and Hitomi reached the floating fortress. "How do we get in?" asked Hitomi.

"Look there! There's a side door! I'm sure that won't be guarded as heavily as the hanger will," Van answered.

"Okay, Van!" Hitomi flew for it and landed inside of it.

"How nice of you to join us," General Jiedulo greeted. He had a group of about ten soldiers, the other three generals, and Dilandau behind him. "Now, if you will be so kind as to step out of your guymelef."

"We had better listen to them, Van," Hitomi said.

"I agree," he said, stepping off of Scherizad's hand. Hitomi followed him, after opening up the armor.

"Very good. Now come here boy and we shall just be taking the girl," General Jiedulo ordered. At this remark Dilandau gasped.

"Don't you want the dragon? He's king of Fanelia! He'd be perfect blackmail material, for that backwards little country," Dilandau reasoned.

"No, I'll never give you Hitomi," Van shouted, drawing his sword and standing in front of Hitomi; it was much in the manner as Merle did Van, and with Eriya and Nariya.

General Jiedulo taunted them. "So this is the girl that killed four of my men? She doesn't look so scary to me. Hell, she can't even defend herself."

"Hitomi is more than capable of defending herself. But she has no sword… and you greatly outnumber us," Van spitefully responded.

"That's right! And I have the power of Atlantis!" Hitomi shouted back at them.

"That toy!? Only Dornkirk would be interested in that; it certainly doesn't impress me!" General Jiedulo was becoming quite mean.

Van scowled. '_If I can move Escaflowne, why not other things? I bet I could take that man's sword if I tried,' _Hitomi thought. She closed her eyes and concentrated on it. Once she had a clear picture of it in her mind, she beckoned it.

"What is she doing?" Dilandau wondered out loud. "Somebody stop her, she's a demon!"

Suddenly the general's sword flew from his hands and into Hitomi's. "What the?!" he exclaimed.

Van looked surprised at Hitomi's sudden adoption of the ability of telekinesis. But now they seemed to have the upper hand. Most of his men were scared, and Dilandau was about to run away. But General Jiedulo was running away the fastest. Soon the room had been cleared.

"You go that way, and I'll go this way… yell for me if you find Escaflowne," Van ordered.

Hitomi nodded, "Okay." Then the two of them ran off in separate directions, both unaware of what each direction would lead them to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I fear we are nearing the end… expect it within the next few days… *oh joy*… thank you to all y'alls who have stuck threw it this far… I appreciate readers like u ^_^


	30. Thirty

Van went down the corridor on the right; he was supposed to be elusive like a spy, but needed to check through every hatchway. But being sneaky turned out to not really be an issue. All of the soldiers were out in combat, and only the highest officers (who they had just scared off) remained. Van finally reached the end of the passageway, but didn't find it. "Damn… that means that Hitomi will find it," he said to himself.

He leisurely placed his hand upon the wall. Suddenly a passage opened up. "Huh?" he pondered to himself. "Well, I guess it must be in here," Van muttered as he stepped inside.

* * *

Hitomi wandered down the passageway on the left. "Oh, no! I'm going to get lost in here," she worried. "And what if I run into someone?" She crept down the hallway looking side to side and wondering where Escaflowne was. Little did she know who was creeping behind her, ducking into doorways.

She has nearly searched the entire thing when the person behind her made a fatal error and nearly stumbled. But it managed to creep into a doorway before she could have a good look. "Who… who's there?" she stammered.

Silently turning around she searched for this being who was tailing her. But she wasn't perceptive enough and the person grabbed her and covered her mouth. "Mmm…. Mmm," the hand muffled her screams.

"Be quiet you foolish girl! Don't you know that I could very easily kill you?" the man said. She knew that voice.

As hard as she could possible do, she bit his hand. "Ugh… my hand. You fool!" he screamed at her.

"VAN! VAAANNNN!!! Help me!" she screamed. But from the secret door he couldn't hear her.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Dilandau asked her.

"I know you wouldn't kill me, Dilandau. You have too much good in you," Hitomi said.

"No, I could kill you if I wanted to. But it isn't time yet," Dilandau was quite irked by her argument. 

"I don't see why you don't show us how nice you really are. I'm sure that much more people would like you. Everyone likes Celena," Hitomi convinced.

"Don't even bring her up. Just don't talk about it," Dilandau seemed weakened.

"I know that you want to be Celena. You want to be loved," Hitomi was often too nice for her own good.

"Just leave me alone! I don't need you to help me!" Celena began to get stronger in Dilandau's mind.

"Why don't you go with us. I'm sure everyone will accept you. Wouldn't it be nice to stay in the castle in Fanelia?" Hitomi asked gently.

By now Dilandau was very weak. Celena was getting stronger, but he was holding on and not letting her through. "I guess that would be nice," he weakly responded, to keep Celena at bay a little while longer.

"Then let's go find Van," Hitomi said as she helped Dilandau down the passageway. Soon they came to the opening at the end of the hallway that Van was walking down. "I bet he's in there," she quietly said.

"Hitomi!" Van greeted upon seeing her. Then he noticed Dilandau, "What's wrong with him?" 

"Dilandau is coming with us. He wants to be good," Hitomi responded. Van scowled slightly, he didn't have a problem with Celena but Dilandau was another issue. 

Hitomi looked around. "What is this room?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Van responded "but it looks like this flying fortress once belonged to Zaibach. This particular room looks like it was once a lab."

Van began to prepare Escaflowne. But Hitomi started looking through some old files. When she came upon some interesting documents. "Look at this," she said to Van.

"What is it?" he asked. 

"It seems to be on some experiments. How awful! Did you know that Zaibach did experimentation on children?" Hitomi quietly asked Van.

Dilandau began to groan. "Oh! Look at this file… it's about Dilandau!" Hitomi exclaimed.


	31. Thirty-one

Back at Freid the fighting was going full-fledged. Without the help of their leaders, even though they were ruffians, the enemy troops were doing poorly. It seemed that Freid would finally win. 

* * *

Dilandau moaned even more. He seemed to be very much in pain. Hitomi read through the files on Dilandau. "It says that they discovered a cure for this!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"Really? Allen will be greatly pleased by this. What is the cure?" Van asked.

"It's in a vial. It should be a blue liquid labeled 'Metamorphic enhancement restoration.'" Hitomi replied. They searched high and low, finding many other vials that served many other unheard of uses. They came to the point where they were about to give up.

"Do you know where it is?" Hitomi finally asked Dilandau.

Dilandau had lost it, and began to laugh maniacally. Standing up, he stumbled toward a safe. It had been locked, but he took the key off of the necklace he had been wearing. Inside of the safe there was a cooler, he rummaged through it and found the blue vial. He held it in his hands like it was something of great worth.

Van began to worry that Dilandau would destroy the vial. "Please be good and drink the liquid, Dilandau," Hitomi begged. Dilandau began to laugh maniacally. He held the vial high above his head, prepared to drop it. Van got ready to attack Dilandau.

"Oh no, I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you so much as move an inch this little bottle will crash on the floor," Dilandau contorted. He started swinging the vial around above the ground and humming. It was clear that he was insane again.

Van growled. Unfortunately for all of them, they had forgotten about Hitomi's new power. "You know what? You guys are too boring; I'm just going to have to drop it anyway. Say 'bye, bye' to the little bottle," Dilandau then let go of it.

Suddenly Hitomi remembered. After the vial dropped from Dilandau's hands Hitomi willed it to go into her own. Van, seeing what happened, grabbed Dilandau. "Now you are going to drink it!" Van told Dilandau. Hitomi forced the burning liquid down his throat.

"ARRRG! AHHH!!! UGH!" Dilandau shrieked in pain from that horrible concoction. 

"Well, I guess it didn't work," Hitomi sighed.

"Allen is going to be terribly disappointed," Van replied. "Well, I guess we can always just take him back. I'm sure someone will be able to find a cure for him."

"Ha… Millerna," Hitomi joked to herself.

Van got into Escaflowne and prepared to take off. Suddenly Dilandau screamed again. He changed into Celena. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Try to remember, Celena. Remember what Dilandau did," Hitomi asked her.

Celena thought for a moment. "Do you know of a way to destroy the floating fortress," Van asked her, suddenly interested.

"I-I think so…" Celena stammered. "Yes, there is a button inside of that safe. In the back, it gives you 5 minutes to get out of here before it explodes," she answered.

"Okay, let's do it then," Van replied. Then he pressed the button. "Hurry Hitomi! Get into Scherizad and grab Celena! I'll meet you back at Freid!"

"Okay Van!" she yelled back. Then she and Celena started running towards Scherizad.


	32. Thirty-two

Hitomi ran towards the door. It wouldn't open. So she started pounding on it as hard as she could. "Van! I can't get the door open!" she screamed. He ran over to her and gave it a try. Soon they were both pounding on it. 

"Ugh… can't get it open!" Van yelled.

"How much time do we have left," Hitomi asked.

"About 3 minutes," Van responded.

"Oh, jeez… I just remembered that there's a door release somewhere around here. The doors lock to keep people from using the self-destruct mechanism," Celena stated.

They began to search the room. "Can't you remember where it is, Celena?" Hitomi asked. They continued to search while she thought about it. Celena walked to the door. Next to the door she knocked twice and a panel flipped up. 

"Oh no," she fretted, "there are two buttons. If only I could remember which one worked."

Van and Hitomi walked to the door. "How much longer, Van?" she asked him.

"About a minute and a half. We need to get out of here now!" Van replied as worried as she was.

"Well, here goes nothing," Hitomi replied as she pressed the button on the left. 

**Beep… Click… **_'Oh no! This is the end! I chose the wrong button!'_ she thought.

They waited a second. 'Hey, we're not dead yet…" Hitomi began to feel more confident. Suddenly the door popped open.

"Hitomi! You've got about a minute. Run for it!" Van shouted while getting into Escaflowne.

"Right Van!" Hitomi replied her and Celena dashing out of the door. Hitomi easily passed Celena, since she was in track. She hated to leave her behind, but this was the best way to do it.

Hurriedly she scrambled into Sherizad. Celena was trying to follow, but she was very weak. Instead of just waiting for her, Hitomi went after Celena and picked her up…

* * *

The floating fortress exploded. Flames shot across the sky, lighting up the dreary evening. All heads turned toward the debris that was plummeting toward the ground. _'I hope Hitomi got out all right. I haven't seen her,' _Van thought as he flew back to Freid.

Upon returning he was greeted by Chid. "Fanelia, I'm so glad to have you back. The fighting went well, and all of the enemy's soldier's either fled or were killed. In fact few escaped. Where is Lady Hitomi?" Chid asked.

"You mean she hasn't returned yet?" Van suddenly began to worry. "Oh no," his greatest fears were being realized, "she must have still been in the ship when it exploded!"

"She went down with the ship!? What grave misfortune!" Chid was deeply saddened by his friend's death.

"I must tell Allen about this horrible news. His sister would have been killed as well," Van had to stay strong and not cry, although his heart was broken.

Chid, as well, was having a hard time keeping his promise that he made to the Duke of Freid. The two of them solemnly shuffled inside the palace.


	33. Thirty-three

"What do you mean my sister is dead?" Allen asked, trying to get over the initial shock.

"Hitomi and Celena were in the floating fortress when it exploded," Van explained beginning to get annoyed. He was deeply saddened by this, but got tired of explaining it to Allen.

"You mean that Hitomi is dead as well?" Allen was ready to crumble. "Why did the floating fortress explode," Allen inquired.

"I thought… I thought that it would be best if the floating fortress self-destructed. That way we could get rid of the generals… I never meant to kill them. I would have never intended to do that," Van was very near tears, but tried to hold back.

"You killed Celena and Hitomi!? You fiend!" Allen accused.

This hit too close to home for Van, as he was accusing himself of the same thing. "I… I didn't mean to. But the door locked, and I guess they didn't make it out in time," a single silvery tear ran down his face.

"I'm sorry, Van. I didn't mean to lose my temper like that, I'm just too full of grief. You lost a loved one too, I understand," Allen comforted.

Van left the room, to leave Allen to himself. As soon as he left, Allen began to sob.

* * *

Van found his own dark corner to think in. _'I killed her. Hitomi was my one true love, and I killed her. I don't deserve to live. If she isn't alive, then I have no right to be alive either,'_ he thought. Tears trickled down his face, making his eyes red.

Merle peeked through the door. "Poor Lord Van," she quietly said to herself. "But I mustn't disturb him. He needs to be alone this time." Of course the news about Hitomi upset Merle, but she had to be strong; strong for her precious Lord Van. Merle wandered through the palace to do her own thinking.

She had already seen Allen, and he was an absolute wreck. Soon she came to a door. Voices were coming from inside. _'I wonder who's in there,"_ she thought, _"no, it would be rude to disturb them. But then again…no, Hitomi always said that curiosity killed the cat-girl. But Hitomi is dead… I guess one little peek won't hurt. Just as long as I'm quiet.'_ Silently she opened the door. Inside were Dryden and Millerna, and they were enjoying each other's company. They were sitting next to each other and whispering and laughing. To most other people, this would have been considered cute, but it only made Merle sick. _'Hitomi is dead and they're laughing? Now that's just not right,' _she thought. _'Maybe I should tell them. No, no, I don't want to interrupt them. But if I don't tell them, who will? No, I'll just leave them to each other.'_

Merle wandered away. _'This palace is so boring. I bet it's the air… yeah, the air here makes people boring,' _ she thought to herself. _'Hey! What's that?' _Merle saw a dark shadow in front of the Palace. _'Am I the only person who ever pays attention to these sorts of things? Everyone else is off crying, and the palace is about to be attacked. Well, I guess it's up to me,'_ Merle was annoyed that she had to do this, but in a way was proud to be the one to save the palace.

Merle crept up to the doorway. And lunged at the shadow from the darkness. She seemed to have it; she caught the scoundrel in his tracks.


	34. Thirty-four

"Merle! What do you think you're doing?! I barely escape from an exploding floating fortress with my life, and when I get back you tackle me!" Hitomi scolded Merle.

"Hitomi!" Merle hugged her.

This surprised Hitomi a lot. "I was only gone for a day," she laughed. _'Well, at least she isn't licking me,' _she thought.

"Celena!" Merle hugged her too.

"Oh, Merle," Celena responded..

"What are you waiting for, you stupid girl? You have to go find Lord Van! He is so upset!" Merle yelled at Hitomi.

"Okay, okay…" Hitomi went inside of the palace. Since she had no idea what room he was in, she just began to wander around. Soon she came to a closed door. _'Ah… Van must be in here,' _she thought.

She opened the door to find Millerna and Dryden in mid-kiss. They looked at her.

"Oh, sorry…" she stammered, beginning to blush. She ran out of the door as soon as she could.

Hitomi finally found the room that Van was in. She just stood there watching him for a while. Finally he noticed her. "Hitomi!" he exclaimed as he ran up and hugged her. 

"Oh, Van…" she responded. He held her tight.

"I thought you were dead. I love you so much, Hitomi… I love you so much," he breathed into her ear.

"I love you too, Van," she whispered into his.

* * * 

Hitomi had finished telling everyone the story. She and Celena got off of the floating fortress just seconds before it exploded. This put major stress in Scherizad and they ended up crashing. There were no major wounds, but Celena and Hitomi had to walk a few miles, leaving Scherizad behind, to get to the castle.

Everyone was very relieved that Hitomi and Celena got back all right. "Damn, and I thought that the levistone would be better than that," Kio muttered to himself.

Unnoticed by everyone else, Celena and Gaddes were in the back holding hands. 

"Thank you for your hospitality, Duke Chid, but we must be returning to Fanelia tomorrow," Van told him.

"I understand, Fanelia, and I'm most grateful for all of your help. Please return to Freid whenever you feel like it. My palace is your palace," Chid responded.

Van bowed, "You are most gracious. And you are always welcome to visit us in Fanelia."

The courtesies of visitors leaving were done, and everyone retired to their rooms for the night. But Allen stayed behind.

"Duke Chid, I do hope you understand that I'm leaving tomorrow. As a knight of Caeli it is my duty to return to Asturia," Allen explained to Chid.

"Yes, I understand. It just isn't possible for you to stay here, and I cannot leave Freid any easier," Chid dejectedly responded.

"Here, I wanted to give you this," Allen handed him a medium sized box. "Go ahead, open it."

Duke Chid opened the box. "It is my very first sword. The metal smith in my town gave it to me when I was about your age. It is important for any king to learn mortal sword combat," Allen explained.

Chid ran his small finger down the cool metal of the sword, and briefly touched the helm. "Thank you, father," he said with a smile.

Allen smiled back and then went to his room. After he left, Chid took out the sword and swung it around a bit.


	35. Thirty-five

The trip back had been rather uneventful. They picked up Scherizad on there way to Fanelia (F.Y.I.) It was only a bunch of moments between Hitomi and Van, Celena and Gaddes, and Dryden and Millerna. The only thing worth mentioning of it would probably be how Merle was trying to teach Allen how to douse "like Lord Van can."

Soon they were back in Fanelia. One might find that time would drag on with so little going on, but it flew. Soon they had finished unpacking. After a day of leisure, except for Van who had to spend the day meeting with the council and talking with advisors, they soon all supped together.

It was a wonderful meal that was prepared to them. It had all of the specialties of Fanelia; it was fit for a king. Before the meal began Van had something to say. "Attention everyone, I have an announcement to make. Hitomi has agreed to it, so we're getting married," he announced.

There was polite applause, of course. Next Gaddes stood up, everyone was quite surprised by this. "I have an announcement as well. Celena and I are getting married," he looked lovingly at her, and she returned the expression. More polite clapping was in order.

Suddenly Millerna stood up. "Well, since everyone else is doing it, I might as well make my announcement. Dryden and I are getting married again," she proudly announced.

Although it would have only been polite to clap for them, everyone remembered their last wedding, which had been quite the incident. Millerna looked disappointed. "Great, they are going to think that we belong to a cult or something," Merle muttered to herself.

Hitomi shot her a look, but couldn't help but to laugh a bit. Things were going to work out after all.


	36. Epilogue and Authors notes

Epilogue

Epilogue

After three, separate to keep them from looking like a cult, weddings everyone was happy. 

Hitomi became the queen of Fanelia, and was loved by the people. She and Van were very happy and their love for each other never died.

Celena and Gaddes were wed next. Celena was very happy with a simple life of living with Gaddes and the crew on the Crusade. Despite how odd this relationship had been they loved each other very much. And Celena never became Dilandau again.

Millerna and Dryden got married again. This time it wasn't as big of a celebration, because Eries hadn't approved of how they decided not to be married anymore a while ago. But there weren't any "intensified luck soldiers" either. Dryden always stayed a merchant and got lots of money. Millerna went with him and learned how to become a better doctor, and they were both very happy. However Millerna never allowed Dryden to get another mermaid.

Allen stayed a knight of Caeli and ended up leading many battles, however none were as great as the ones fought against Zaibach and the ruffians. Merle never managed to teach him how to douse.

Eries never married. But she did stay a very powerful queen, who was well liked by the public. Under her rule, Asturia never suffered from as much damage as Freid or Fanelia had.

Duke Chid became a great swordsman and a Duke. The people of Freid loved him, and the country began to recover from the strain that the ruffians and Zaibach had put on them. Soon this country was prosperous and beautiful again.

Amono and Yukari didn't stay together, since they were young and on earth. Over time they forgot about Hitomi, but remembered how one day a strange young man flew from the sky on a dragon and took away a friend of theirs. Between the two of them they lost many CDs that flew to Gaea on their own.

Merle would have been content to serve Lord Van for the rest of her days. However she met a charming cat-man and they wed and had a litter of kittens. However, this was a bit further into the future than the rest of the things mentioned.

*Author's note*

I really enjoyed working on this story. Please forgive some of the typos, as I rushed to get this story out of my head. And as a note: the epilogue is subject to change ^_^ you never know, I may have to write a sequel. And I didn't note children for everyone either… lets just say that there came to be a long line in those chains, and everyone was happy. Thank you all for reading this story, I know it was awfully long. Please email me any comments at [flygirl0129@hotmail.com][1] Thank you.

   [1]: mailto:flygirl0129@hotmail.com



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